Heeman c



April 2, 1929. H. c. GRAEBE 1,707,949

PROCESS FOR HUMIDIFYING COTTON SEED MEATS Filed May 28, 1925 INVENTOR ATTORNEY) Patented pr. 2, 1929.

UhllTED SIATESPATENT OFFICE.

HERMAN C. GRAEBE, OF ATLANTA, GEORGIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE PROCTER AND GAM- BLE COMP..\..NY, F CINCINNATI, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

PROCESS FOR HUMIDIFYING COTIONSEED-MEATS.

Application filed May 28,

My invention relatesto processes for treat-- ing cotton seed meats in general, and particularly to aL novel process for the humiditication of cotton seed meats prior to the step in which the oil is actually pressed from the meats.

lt is the object of my invention to treat oil bearing cotton seed meats with steam or water and to alloriT the mass, thus treated, to stand in bulk for suoli time before pressing as has been found will result in a material increase in the yield ot oil produced.

number of n iethods have been tried in the past to introduce moisture into cotton seed meats by spraying unter or wot steam into conveyors containing the meats in bulk, but none of these methods has resulted in a material increase .in the yield of oil, because the distribution of the moisture Within thc cells of the nuts and seeds does not seem yto ever have been sufhciently uniform to produce any unusual yield.

Cotton seed meats having` a relatively high n'ioisture content have been found to yield their oil much more readily than dry meats, and 1n process has as its object the produc tion ofy a close approach to nature in an artificial humidified grade of meats having a high moisture content With the moisture so incorporated in the meats so as to cause a high yield of oil in the pressing operation.

I have found, however, that if the meats are sprayed With Water or steam or both in such a Way as to uniformly distribute the moisture, and the vegetable material thus treated is then retained for a period of time of approximately one hour lor more before lthe seeds are, crushed, and pressed, that a very material increase in the yield of oil Will result.

A convenient apparatus for carrying out my novel process is shown in the drawing in which:

The figure is a diagrammatic section of a suitable apparatus.

Generally indicated 1 is shown a chute through which the nuts or seeds are discharged into the enclosed screivconveyor indicated at 2. The steam pipe 3 with valve 4 may be opened and steam thus discharged Within the conveyor. The Water line 5 may be connected into the same line which dis charges Within the conveyorl as controlled by the valve indicated at Thus the meats may be thoroughly mixed with Water and 1925. Serial No. 33,550.

steam before discharging into the storage tanks. Chutes indicated at 7 connect the bottom of the conveyor With tanks 8 and the openings in the chutes are controlled by the slides 9. The tanks are also provided at the botto-ms with chutes 10 with slides 11 which connect the tanks with the enclosed conveyor 1i). through which the seeds or nuts are carried to the crusher or other apparatus in which the moistened oily meat is treated prior to the pressing operation.

rlhc equipment diagrammatically shown is of course nothing more than a convenient arrangement of mechanism for carrying out my process and equivalents of the structure shown will readily occur to those skilled in the art.

lhe convenience of such an arrangement of tanks andconveyors will at once become apparent when it is considered that the conveyor discharging into the tanks furnishes a very convenient stage in the conveying of the seeds or nuts to the later steps in the process. At this Apoint the seeds or nuts are being thoroughly mixed and the moisture which may be added is thoroughly mixed in the conveyor before the seeds or nuts are discharged into the storage tanks. I control the moisture and steam discharged from the pipes 3 and 5 so that there will be no excess of moisture or Water to drop out later in the storage bins. By opening lirst one slide valve 9 until the tank is illed and then the other and having the size of the tanks of dimensions equivalent to the total amount of bulk meats which will be handled by the conveyor during the period which the moistened oily material is to be held in the tanks, a process results thereby in which there is n0 storage of one batch longer than another so that uniform results in the yield of oil may be obtained. As soon as one of the tanks is filled the bottom slide is opened to the outlet conveyor and the inlet conveyor is adj usted to discharge into the other tank. Thus a continuous supply may be provided to the conveyor.

As a specilic example of my process, the following results Were obtained with a ten thousand pound batch having a moisture content of 6.5%. I added at atmospheric pressure suliicient moisture in the form of Water heated with open steam to about 175 degrees Fahrenheit to increase the moisture content to 11.5%. The batch was then discharged into a tank similar to the one indicated at 8 and allowed to4 stand for two hours. The pressing of the meats which had this humidifyiug and standing treatment, after rolling` yielded a two per cent `greater quantity of oil in pressing than a like quanti ty of meats of a similar grade which had been humidiied but which had been rolled and pressed innnedi- :itely thereafter.

Instead of using two tanks a larger number of units may be used the size of which niay be readily figured Yfrom the amount of oily material to be handled and the time to which it is to be allowed to be exposed to moisture. The process may be continuous as long: as at least an hour passes between the hun'iidifying and the following;r steps in the pressing' eperation.

Having thus described my invention.y what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

l. The step in the process of prepa ring' cotton `seed meats for extraction, which crmsists in continuously feeding' cotton seed meats and supplying` a regulated quantity of moisture during,r the feeding operation, then building up a supply of nioistened meats and allowing the meats to stand for at least an hour before further feeding to subsequent steps in the process.

Q. A step in preparing cotton seed meats for extraction, which consists in inoistening the meats during a period of continuous feeding and then alternately allowing one batch to accumulate and stand for an hour while another beingv accumulated and alternately d iseharging one acer unulated supply and then another.

3. A step in preparingf Cotton seed meats for rolling and pressing' which consists in eontinuously feeding' a batch into an acenniulat-ing supply and allowing the supply to stand for at least an hour and supplying a continuously regulated quantity of moisture to the uieats during' the continuous feeding period.

l-lERllflAN C. GRAEBE. 

